Norway – In southern Norway, Li-Cycle has formed a joint venture with ECO STOR and Morrow Batteries to build a new commercial lithium-ion battery recycling facility.
The joint venture will be majority owned by Li-Cycle, with ECO STOR and Morrow as minority owners and Nordic-based strategic partners.
Norway has long been a pioneer in the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and, according to the Norwegian Automobile Federation, will phase out new internal combustion engine vehicle sales by April 2022. This would be three years ahead of the Norwegian government’s proposed 2025 deadline, and could result in a substantial, long-term supply of end-of-life batteries. Li-Cycle believes it will be well-positioned to recycle and reintroduce these end-of-life batteries into the lithium-ion battery supply chain in the future. This is in addition to the stable domestic supply of manufacturing scrap that will be generated in Norway as companies like Morrow expand their battery manufacturing capacity.
First facility outside US
The Norwegian Spoke, once completed, will be Li-first Cycle’s recycling facility outside of North America, with the capacity to process up to 10,000 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries per year, including manufacturing scrap, full EV packs, and energy storage systems. Early in 2023, the facility is expected to be operational. The initiative brings complementary parts of a circular and sustainable value chain to the European market, bringing Li-total Cycle’s global recycling capacity (existing and planned) to 40,000 tonnes of lithium-ion battery input per year.
Obtaining approvals
ECO STOR will provide end-of-life lithium-ion batteries to the joint venture, with Morrow providing lithium-ion battery manufacturing scrap from its planned battery manufacturing facilities in Norway, assuming the parties reach mutually acceptable definitive services, off-take, and related agreements. Li-Cycle will provide the Spoke facility with equipment, technology, technical services, and operational management, as well as the right to purchase 100% of the facility’s black mass production. The parties are currently finalizing the Spoke’s site; however, all necessary Norwegian regulatory approvals must be obtained before the Spoke can be built and commissioned.
Koch Engineered Solutions (KES) has been hired to build, test, and ship the modular Spoke facility in support of the Norway Spoke. Following Koch Strategic Platforms’ previously announced investment in Li-Cycle, Koch and Li-Cycle are exploring collaboration on key strategic capabilities across the Koch ecosystem.
